One more thing from Goshen College

I wanted to go ahead and post one more the Advent Devotionals from Goshen College. I'll stop parroting their stuff now, but this has some thoughts about Christmas that are not only worth sharing, but worth doing!

Today's devotion from Goshen College:

JAN. 1 - GATHERING UP ALL THINGS

By Becky Horst, associate registrar and grants coordinator

SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 1:3-14 (NRSV)

Scroll down for complete Scripture.

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DEVOTIONAL:

Today's Scripture passage is a single very, very long sentence in the original Greek. It is a glorious tangle of clauses and phrases that defy the attempts of theologians to comb them into neat strands. But there is much truth here -- much to turn our mourning into joy.

At our college Christmas party on Dec. 8, a student from India reflected on the difference between Christmas in her country and Christmas in the United States. Instead of focusing on gifts and feasting, Christians in India view the time between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day as a time of repentance and renewal. Christ's coming to us is a "spiritual blessing" so great that the only appropriate response is to mourn our sins and ask to be reborn into "holy and blameless" lives in the new year.

On this first day of 2009, take some time to reflect on the glorious tangle of your own life. Acknowledge the rich blessings that God has lavished on you. Ponder the good news that the mystery of God’s will is "to gather up all thing"

in Christ, "things in heaven and things on earth." As God’s adopted children, marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit, we have inherited a place in that joyful "gathering" work.

In your workplace? How are you being called and empowered to join in the "gathering?"

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SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 1:3-14 (NRSV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us.

With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.

View all of this season's devotions at http://www.goshen.edu/devotions

Goshen College

http://www.goshen.edu

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The views and beliefs expressed in the devotional piece prepared by each individual reflect their own spiritual growth journey and thoughts, and while created in a campus environment that encourages thoughtful questions and reflection on biblical Scripture and contemporary Christian themes, do not necessarily represent the official institutional positions of Goshen College or Mennonite Church USA.

We welcome students who desire a Christ-centered education shaped around

* passionate learning

* global citizenship

* servant leadership and

* compassionate peacemaking.

Do you know someone who would be a good fit at Goshen College?

Find out more at http://www.goshen.edu/dev/admission .

To keep this unique community of faith and learning vital and affordable for students, Goshen College welcomes your financial support.

Visit http://www.goshen.edu/give/devotions to learn how you can support our mission.

January 3rd

Today as I was reading Matthew chapter 2 in the New Testament, I got side-tracked looking up the word 'anatole.' Which, basically, can mean either 'rising' or 'east' or even 'morning.' Why? Well, I'm no expert, but my guess would be that the word was used originally to refer to the rising of the sun, and then also the direction the sun rose from, and occasionally, the time when the sun rises. See the connection?

Anyway, if you have a modern English translation, Matthew 2:2 has a footnote on it. If you have NIV, the main text says 'saw His star in the east' and footnotes: or when it rose and the NLT main text reverses that, putting 'saw his star as it rose' and footnoting 'saw his star in the east.'

I'm not going to criticize either translation, because, on my own, I think either one could be right. What I want to focus on is what I consider the alternate, "saw his star when it rose." Why would I call that alternate? It's not the King James, which means it's not what most of us have heard our whole lives...

So, what about it? Well, we've all probably heard the Christmas story that the Wise Men, or Magi, came, after seeing the Christmas Star in the East. Well, the tradition has the Magi in the East, and moving west to see the Christ. Not an invalid thought. After all, Persia had a class of scholar/astronomers called 'Magi' so they fit the idea of ones who would watch and respond to the star. However, let's imagine the 'Magi' as a less specific application. For example, think of the modern word 'GEEK.' Now, if you don't know how to set up your computer, you could use the help of a computer geek. While Best Buy does have technicians labeled 'The Geek Squad,' that's not the only geeks available. There are people with all of the qualifications, but not official Geek Squad people (please note, Geek Squad is trademarked or copyrighted or something). So, you could be a geek, without being a 'Geek Squad.'

So it could be with 'Magi.' This label would definitely apply to a group of Persian scholars, but could have been used by the Greeks to refer to scholars from any non-Greek part of the world. (Everyone that wasn't Greek was a barbarian, but perhaps the Greeks respected a few barbarian scholars, and group-labeled them 'Magi').

Okay, now, this is not a major-league history effort. But I see in the translation of 'star when it rose' the idea that Magi, scholars/religious leaders, from all of the non-Jewish parts of the world coming to worship Christ. Not just from Persia, but from Europe, Asia, Africa. I see here a hint of the gathering of nations to worship Christ, of the time when 'Every knee will bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father!' (Phil 2:10-11) And how did they know to come? They all saw the star when it rose and came. I imagine Magi running into other Magi, asking "Why are you here?" "Why am I here? Did you not see that star? Why are you here?" "Um, same star...."

I see a hint of the ingathering of those who follow Christ. I see the Gospel, even at the beginning, going out to all the world. Do I see all the world following Christ? No, because not all will. But I see His glory going forth!

May we never think of ourselves as the sole owners of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or as the gatekeepers that will decide who may come in and who may not. The Gospel belongs to the Lord, who commands we preach it! And the decision belongs to the empowering of the Holy Spirit, that God unblinds the eyes of people that they may see His truth, and believe in Jesus.

Blogs I write

Ok, I just re-read my post from yesterday and realized I promised this today: Blogs I write.

What do I write? Well, I write this blog, http://bubbatherevthoughts.blogspot.com. I even do my own spelling...

I also write a blog at www.calvarymonticello.com. This is my church's website, and where I am not only the Pastor, but also the guy who tries to keep up the website. Mostly, that blog is cut and pasted from this blog, because I'd rather copy and paste a decent blog post than create two really lousy ones. The more personal things stay just here, but most stuff goes both places. Also, several of my church members utilize internet access at work, and their employer firewalls out blogspot addresses. So, I say the same thing both places.

I write a short, hopefully challenging, devotional type blog at http://towardthehorizon.blogspot.com. This was born out of a desire to separate some of my personal blogging and more random thoughts from serious, devotional type thoughts. My hope is to provide a brief, daily (almost) Biblical encouragement for Christians. It's also supposed to get me and my fellow believers to act. But, it is only my thoughts, not a place where I've copied and pasted anybody elses. Eventually, I'll probably double-blog it over at www.calvarymonticello.com, but I haven't done it yet.

(side note: www.calvarymonticello.com is powered/designed/enabled by AdvancedMinistry.com, and those guys are great! If you are in need of a church webspace, or are dissatisfied with who you have, I'd check them out.)

I sometimes contribute to hibbardfive.blogspot.com but Ann does most of that. She's the one who sees what happens most, and so sometimes I find myslef reading that blog to see what's up in my own family.

As a crazy thought, I started a blog that was "The Bible Haiku Project" and is now "Doug's Haiku Project." Why did it change? Got a phone call from a guy informing me that he had trademarked the phrase "Bible Haiku." Who knew it was worth trademarking? Anyway, the idea there is, when the mood strikes, I put up English-haiku about Biblical subjects, goofy subjects, sports, and politics. Why? Because sometimes it helps clear mental blocks when sermon planning! I once wrote 3 pages of haiku when I was supposed to write a paper. That cleared the nonsense out, and then I wrote a decent paper (95/100, grad school). Also, Haiku accepts comments of haiku, and I do occasionally post other people's haiku.

Because of political angst, I'm running for President in 2012. I actually announced this over a year ago, and have a blog which is my political effort. It's at http://dougforpresident.blogspot.com. It's a place that I vent my political opinions. Are my solutions the only possible ones? No. But I like mine better.

Note that doug for president is now http://politcallyagitated.blogspot.com because I want to express my opinions on things from any level, and don't want any particular President to feel left out.

I occasionally blog at http://cbcprayerlist.blogspot.com and http://calvarybaptistmonticello.blogspot.com but those are more used for church announcements and such. So, while they are in my 'blog dashboard,' I don't do much intentional writing for them. I was going to, but instead decided to keep my thoughts on my own blog. Also, several of my church members have the 'send-to' posting address so that they can put stuff up on these blogs.

A project I started, but that doesn't get much traffic, is called http://pastoranswers.blogspot.com. I wanted to set-up a site that people could post questions, and have someone give them a Bible-based answer to their question. Well, my congregation isn't very inquisitive, so there aren't many questions yet. My goal for this was to expand and involve other pastors and churches. So, if you are a pastor or church member that wants to spread the word, please do! Long-term, I would like to have a writing team for that site that includes a broader base of viewpoints than just my own to help answer questions.

A blog that shows up in my profile is entitled 'Doug's Digital Journal.' Which is private, which is why there is no hyperlink there. That's where I will copy and paste things that I want to refer back to, or where I will type out personal journal entries. I don't do much of that, but I do sometimes.

Finally, there's a blog entitled "Throwback Families" which is a project I hope to start this year. I just went ahead and snagged the name. The idea is a blog for families like mine, and others we know, that are trying to step back a little from some of our modern chaos, and strengthen their family. This project hasn't kicked off yet, but I'll be looking for authors soon. It's not a blog to bash everything, nor is it a blog for Ludites, but for people who want to stop, evaluate their lives, and maybe take a step back.

The idea for the title came from watching football. Occasionally teams will wear 'Throwback Uniforms' that look like the designs used by teams gone by. Usually way by. But, those teams still play by modern rules, use modern safety equipment, and use modern methods. They take some of the style of yesteryear, and use it again. So, 'Throwback Families' take some of the good of times before, and mix it with today's life. Examples come from homeschoolers, home cooks, home bakers, people that make Christmas presents instead of buying them, church starters, people that sell what they've got and go into farming, and people that make their own guns. While some of this blog will certainly address the spiritual, and my own declaration is that there is only one way to heaven, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not a blog for Christians to bash the 'evil world' around us. It's about finding encouragement and tips about what to do.

I plan to hit up my wife, a couple of my friends, and 4 or 5 of her friends to help with this project.

All of my blogger-based blogs use Statcounter to track stats, even my digital journal, which I check stats on and make sure I'm the only URL to hit it. I don't know why I don't use google analytics, other than that I didn't know I had it when I started blogging, and Statcounter does everything I need for free, so why change? I use Feedjit on some of my stuff, and, yes, have a google adsense account. In 6 months of blogging, I've earned $2.63! So, in about 5 years, Google will have to cut me a check! So, I'm not exactly a professional blogger....

David Wells quote #2

"[T]his transformation of Christianity into entertainment, is rapidly becoming the norm today, not the exception. Pastors are straining to outdo each other in becoming as chic and slick as any show in Las Vegas" (p. 24).

This is a quote from author/theologian David Wells. It's a challenge to me, that I should remember that I am not an entertainment professional, but a preacher of the Gospel.

What do you look for in a church? Entertainment? Things for you? Or the opportunity to serve? Is church about you or about God?

Moving toward the Horizon,

Doug

Blogs I read

In case you've ever wondered, here are some of the blogs I read, and why I read them:

First, there's Ann's Blogs, which I read because she has good stuff to say, and because she's my wife. The stuff she has is good, and would be even if she weren't my wife, but I know it's there. She blogs for herself at:

http://annsthots.blogspot.com and http://annschallengeoftheday.blogspot.com

And does family updates here: http://hibbardfive.blogspot.com.

Second, I read http://achoate.blogspot.com. Aaron and Joanna are friends of ours who went to the Solomon Islands with Wycliffe Bible Translators. It's great to keep up with their family and their work.

I read a group blog at http://teampyro.blogspot.com, because the guys there have some good challenging thoughts, and because they have good theology. Plus, they spend lots of time with Photoshop making cool graphics, or scouring the net for great pictures like this one (read through the post, look at the truck on top of the very expensive sports car.). All in all, teampyro is a great use of a few minutes. Just don't wade into the comment stream unless you are capable of defending your position, and can take criticism. Not just from the Team, but from the commenters. It's lively over there some days.

From reading TeamPyro, I started reading Biblical Christianity, which is Dan Phillips, from TeamPyro, and his personal blog. Most everything on Pyro is serious, not everything on Phillips is serious. It's the difference in hearing a sermon every Sunday, and hanging out with a preacher during the week.

I've been reading http://hallfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/ to keep up with Randy and Valerie Hall's efforts to adopt 5 additional orphans from the Ukraine. They adopted 2 previously in life, and this will raise their family to 10 children. Randy Hall is in charge of StudentLife, which puts together the most fabulous youth camps in existence. Even given that some of them are at the beach, which I have a strong dislike for, the Student Life ministry organization is one of the best. Their personal minsitry work is very challenging, as they are involved in Eastern Europe, which is a passion that Ann and I have, and they are also growing their family and showing the love of Christ through adoption, which is another question we're trying to answer over here.

I read Anne Jackson at www.flowerdust.net because she has some good insights into non-traditional churches and what goes on there. And because she was nice enough to let me review her book, even though she's never met me, and I wasn't totally glowing over it.

I check out http://theologica.blogspot.com because there are usually some great links over there.

I read http://www.gencojournal.com because Ruthanne is a friend from high school, and she homeschools, does a lot of homemade things, and has some good insights.

I read http://www.journeyguy.com because Pastor Jeff is a friend from right now, and it's nearly impossible to sit down and talk to him, so I read what he says instead. It's a good way to keep up.

I also read some others, like Mark Cater (and Mark Cater, Weatherman!) when he posts, and several others. It's hard to put out an exhaustive list.

Tomorrow I'll post blogs I write, and blogs I'd like to write....

New year...1-2-09

One of my challenges for the year is that I am going to read through the New Testament in Greek. Which will be difficult, but I think it will help me to learn more about God's Word, which is a crucial tool!

I'm also going to read J.I. Packer's Knowing God, which should help me as a person grow in Christ, and Helmut Thielicke's Encounter with Spurgeon, which I hope will help my preaching.

So what do I say to you, my fellow travelers? Commit to reading God's Word this year in a way that will help you learn it, not read back through the ruts. And find a couple of other things to read that will help you grow.

Moving toward the Horizon,

Doug

January 2nd

One of the challenges I have decided to take on this year is to read the whole New Testament through in Greek. Now, my Greek skills are unrivaled by anyone with experience in the language, because people with experience can actually read it well. For me, to just sit with the NT and read it, without the English, is not going to be easy. I acquired some Greek in college, and can use it like many people use their cooking skills: I know what a word means like you know what cooking terms mean, but you still use a recipe. I still use translation tools, lexicons (dictionaries), stuff like that. Mainly I am good with Greek when I see an English-language reference tool refer to Greek grammar structure or vocabulary.

So, this is going to be a growth experience for me. Which is good. So, today, I was reading Matthew chapter 1. I noticed a couple of things:

1. The genealogy names are easier to read in Greek, because English uses funky letter blends to sub for letters that Greek doesn't have.
2. Matthew expected in verse 7, that all of his readers would be familiar with David's sin with Bathsheba. He simply refers to Solomon as 'out of the of Uriah.' Seriously. Which reminds me that God has been angered by His people's sin, but has never worked to cover them up. We should acknowledge that, and not try to cover ours up, but instead work to not sin, and use our weaknesses to help others be strengthened. There are plenty of principles to extract from the David-Bathsheba-Uriah adultery and murder, and there just might be things we can learn from each other when we confess our sins and pray for each other.
3. This is what got me. One thing I do know about Greek is that 'word order' is used for emphasis, not sentence structure. In English, our sentences usually go :Subject-verb-object, for example: Steven threw the ball. In Greek, word endings show structure, such that you could write: threw the ball Steven, Steven the ball threw, or the ball threw Steven, but the word endings would show you that what happened was that a little guy propelled a ball at a high rate of speed. The word order in Greek shows emphasis. So, the the various sentences above show what you want to emphasize. Now, why is that important?
Matthew 1:23 records "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." (NASB).

Which is the right translation and quotation of Isaiah 7:14. But Matthew writes "God with us" as "with us God," which doesn't change the meaning, but shows a very important emphasis:

That Christ came that 'us' would be with God. Most of us know that God is. Even agnostics acknowledge the possibility of God, and most people that claim atheism are really agnostics (because they'll admit they don't know everything, which will usually allow for the possibility of God somehow, somewhere, but that He just doesn't matter, which is agnosticism.) Matthew, and the Holy Spirit who is inspiring this, wants us to know that God is not distant, but with us. No longer do we have to spend our days seeking God on this mountain, in this experience, with that person or the other, but that right here, with us is where God has made His dwelling place.

Which is, when I boil it down, a very comforting thought to me. God is not absent from this world, not detached from the people. Neither is He the same as the people of this world, but He is with us all. So, as we go through 2009, let's realize that we are not alone in this universe. God is in the whole of the universe, but is also "with us, God."

Doug